Remains Brave {New War Series Book 1}

1000 Hours

The crimson flashes from the desk it resides on.

Rheon: How could you sleep?

1MNYRB: What do you mean?

Rheon: You act like it didn't phase you to shoot the man. I was just wondering if it was hard to sleep knowing you took someone's life.

1MNYRB: It wasn't the first time I had killed someone, and it wasn't near the last time I did either. In war you go into survival mode. He shot me, I reciprocated. He had poor aim, whereas I had leverage. If I hadn't been worn down and bleeding like a stuck pig, I probably would've thought about it more. I didn't have time to dwell on it. Life moves on for those who live and stops cold when you die. Can't change that. It was unfortunate.

Rheon: The man had a child...

1MNYRB: I won't relive that again. I retold it once, you can go back and listen if you so desire.

Rheon: I'm sorry. I was just confused with your-

1MNYRB: Lack of emotion toward death. Mr. Rheon I've watched thousands of people die at this point. Once as a teenager I never imagined viewing death as just a statistic, but once you've come to be in my position, you realize just how... how should I say this... just how disposable a single human life can be. I learned what sacrifices we must make in war quite early. My family and my morals were sacrificed for war. I have been involved with many ends to human life. I'm not proud, but I can justify my actions with self-preservation efforts, and a drive to better the world for the future...

Rheon: What was it like to deliver her baby?

1MNYRB: I was scared as hell. It was probably one of the most scared moments in that year. I faced death so many times, but pulling that baby out was terrifying.

Rheon: What was your relationship with Mr. Erik Rice? You seem to have talked highly of him.

1MNYRB: Erik became a close friend of mine. I can see where most would think there would be attraction there. He's a beautiful man. I can't lie about that. However, if I were to have been attracted to every handsome man I came across, I would never be happy. While he had hoped for something more at the time, he learned fast that I was too preoccupied.

Rheon: With-

1MNYRB: With the war. I did not want to care too deeply for the people around me.

Rheon: I understand. Had you met Mrs. Hana Ogawa and Ms. Elizabeth Ellis prior to the underground stop?

1MNYRB: Hana and I were old drinking friends at school. She had started dating Liz by the end of first semester at UT. I hadn't seen her since she started dating Liz. Liz wasn't into having competition, even though they knew I had no desire to swing the opposite way. Hana had reached out to me when she found out I was in trouble in my apartment that she had stayed with Liz and that she was in Lock Haven. I had multiple other stops I could've gone to on the way, but with the group I was with, I felt it would be easier to stop at the auction house for space purposes. They also had proper care available for the horses, which was another reason I decided to stop there.

Rheon: What happened to Ms. Ellis?

1MNYRB: Last I heard Liz married a man from Idaho. He died in year four I believe. She's somewhere in the Rockies with her daughter.

Rheon: She married a man?

1MNYRB: That is what bisexual means, Mr. Rheon. Hana said she wanted kids, and poverty makes adoption difficult.

Rheon: Do you know why they broke up?

1MNYRB: It wasn't my business. They both ended up getting what they wanted in life, and that's all that matters. Do you have any questions that do not pry into the lives of those who helped the war effort? If you'd like to write books on their lives, I can give you their contact information so you can get their stories from the horse's mouth.

Rheon: My apologies, I will refrain from asking those sorts of questions. What was the auction house like when you woke?